Kenya set the trend but now Ghana tops the list of the fastest growing mobile money market in Africa
There is no doubt that you cannot talk of mobile money market in Africa, and across the world, without mentioning Mpesa mobile money transfer from Kenya. It is usually mentioned as the leading example of total digital transformation especially on matters mobile money market. But in the recent years, the extraordinary growth of mobile money services in sub-Sahara Africa has gone against all odds to emerge as the fastest in the continent.
Ghana topped the list of mobile money services in Africa after registering accounts six-fold in a period running from 2012 to 2017. The experience in Ghana confirms indeed that technology is an important tool in modernizing the financial systems.
In Ghana, mobile money services really stepped in a big deal especially to those who were initially given a cold shoulder by the traditional banking sector. The 2017 Global Findex database shows that accessibility to formal financial services shot up to from 41% of adults in 2014 to 58% in the year 2017, something which was highly attributed to mobile accounts. At least 20% of digital-wallet users were initially not in the formal banking system.
The reduction of time used in transactions, and reduction of costs and risks associated with banking have also been termed as the reason behind the rise of mobile money services. The figures of those who are unbanked in rural areas have doubled but said to be still on a low.
There are many factors that have been said to be behind the rapid growth of money sector in Ghana. First, it is the high penetration rate of use of mobile phones. It is estimated that almost 128% of the population in Ghana use mobile phones. The wide use of mobile phones has really supported the penetration of mobile money services.
The favourite regulations coupled with consumer-driven practices have also been termed as one of the reasons of Ghana making it to the top in mobile money services in Africa.
In general, Ghanaians are said to be using mobile money wallets mostly in transferring money from one person to the other, what is commonly known as peer-to-peer (P2P).
Data from the Bank of Ghana indicates that in 2017, the total volume of money transactions reached $29 billion, compared to $6.5 billion that was recorded in 2015.
In the recent past, Ghana has been making headlines for good reasons the most notably the country becoming the host of AfCFTA secretariat, something which was really well received by Ghanaians led by the president himself.
Africa Global News Publication
